Trying to value a small apartment with little information.

[William E.]

I've purchased a handful of houses and in the next month or so will have sold all except the one i am living in. Basically they were good deals, but not located anywhere near each other and other hassles. Once this last one is sold all of them make a decent profit, and as such i have some cash in my pocket. i'm looking to avoid capital gains taxes and therefore seeking some investments.

I found a guy that has owned a small apartment for about 20 years in a small town  in nowhere Texas, and from what i can tell he had an onsite property manager/renter that moved and no longer does so. He has no real paperwork. He travels and lives away from the property, yet he wants to sell, but has almost nothing to provide to me as far as expenses. 

The basics as far as i have today. 

• he wants 450k
• it was an old army barracks
• 2 buildings appraised by cad (95k/110k, and purchased in 1997)
• 15 units total = 1 to 2 bedroom size
• price per unit $550-$600
• he states 110k profit annual (i'm guessing he grabbed that # out of the air)

i'm working on getting some sort of financials from him, but he's not quick to reply.

My issues thus far are that this property is a 2 hour drive from my house and there are a lot of unknowns. 

Having never purchased an apartment before, i'm trying to do my due diligence before i step into a mess. This could be a great deal, or a major headache. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on the next steps?

I'm looking for a good 'standard expenses for small apartments' spreadsheet in order to get some average calculations to get me started if anyone has one lying around.

Thoughts?

B